Program

Excellence in Quality Improvement Certificate Program (EQUIP)

The goal of the EQUIP is to train current and future clinicians and leaders working at university-affiliated academic health centres or clinics to build capacity in QI.

Course Content

EQUIP is an advanced certificate program that includes the following content areas:

Improvement science and rigorous application of quality improvement methods
Academic skills building, including scholarly writing and leveraging QI work for career advancement and academic promotion
Embedding equity into quality improvement work
Advanced evaluation and qualitative methodologies
***NEW for 2025-26 Linking improvement to operational excellence (developed in collaboration with faculty from the Armstrong Institute, Johns Hopkins Medicine)

Format

***NEW for 2025-26 In response to participant feedback, EQUIP is returning to in-person learning for the 2025-2026 program offering. We will deliver the first 3 days of EQUIP in-person in Toronto, Canada on July 23-25, 2025. The remainder of the monthly sessions and capstone will be delivered virtually. Participants complete a longitudinal QI project as part of the program and are assigned a faculty coach to provide guidance and support them throughout the program.

Target Audience

Academic faculty seeking to more meaningfully integrate QI into their clinical work or scholarly activities
Senior trainees wanting to make QI an academic career focus
Health professionals and administrators in advanced practice or operational leadership positions working in academic settings

Program Faculty

Our internationally-recognized faculty team are practicing clinicians and experts in the field of QI. They have a track record in executing QI projects in academic settings and disseminating their work through publication in high-impact journals. Given CQuIPS role overseeing the international SQUIRE writing guidelines, course participants will learn directly from the individuals setting the standards for QI globally. New for 2025-26, we will collaborate with faculty from the Armstrong Institute at Johns Hopkins Medicine to develop a new thematic focus on operational excellence.

Program Impact

Since 2017, EQUIP has trained 144 faculty, senior trainees and hospital administrators working in academic departments and institutions across North America. Past participants span all career stages, ranging from senior trainees to full professors. EQUIP alumni have been appointed into academic faculty positions at prominent institutions, promoted based on their QI work, and assumed major leadership QI positions (e.g., Medical Director of Quality and Safety, Vice-Chair of Quality Improvement, QI Committee Chair within National Specialty Societies). Several EQUIP projects have been published in leading peer-reviewed journals.

Brian Wong
Director

Lisha Lo
Course coordinator

Session Details

In-Person Session (8:30 AM to 4:30 PM EST):
• July 23–25, 2025 in Toronto, Canada

Virtual Sessions (10 AM to 3 PM EST):
• August 13, 2025
• September 10, 2025
• October 8, 2025
• November 12, 2025
• December 10, 2025
• January 14, 2026
• February 11, 2026
• March 11, 2026
• April 15, 2026

Virtual Capstone (10 AM to 4 PM EST)
• May 13, 2026

Registration Fee

$7,995 (CAD)

The EQUIP application period opens on February 25th, 2025. Please contact us for any inquires.

[After looking at] various programs, including Harvard's offering and other sort of programs, offerings and decided on EQUIP because it had a nice blend of the content which I was looking for, but also the delivery mode was to my liking as well, virtually, and it was, as I said, covered the spectrum of the topics that I was looking to look at. I'd also like the practical approach to it in terms of a project that would be pursued in the context of the work that was being done from a didactic perspective

Joseph Kim, Director, Kidney Transplant Program, UHN
EQUIP Alumni

Education

Our educational programs range from one-day workshops to longitudinal programs that are conducted on a local, national and international level. In all our offerings, we strive to ensure that learners have meaningful learning opportunities and create networks and connections throughout the community.

Course